What Not To Wear
In the past, I have made some not so smart fashion decisions. I’d like to share the things I’ve learned with you, so that you can NOT make the mistakes I’ve made. I definitely hung my head in shame and laughed at myself as I looked back at these awful pictures. You live and learn. I wonder what I’m doing now that will mortify me in the future.
What was I thinking?!! Oh, sweet, gullible 9th grader. Why did no one set you straight and give you some advice? This fashion no-no should be left to European tourists.
This dress I wore to my freshman Homecoming dance was sooooo bad (although my mother still strongly disagrees) that the boy I danced with that night, still remembered it in detail our senior year…and not in a good way. Yikes.
I’m seriously considering pressing charges against my mother for letting me out of the house like this. Yuck. Sweats should only be for lounging around the house and working out. And construction boots are for construction workers and you don’t see me building any houses, so I have no idea why I owned them. Epic fail.
There is a fine line between fashionable and ultra-slutty when it comes to wearing a mini dress. More often than not, I think people’s mini dresses veer towards the latter. Fortunately this dress was a costume I wore in a show and nothing I CHOSE to wear, so you can’t blame me for this one or call me any names. 😉
Let’s just leave these shirts to retired men over the age of 65. I guess it totally figures that I borrowed this shirt from my dad.
I don’t care if this trend is coming back in style, I will never agree with it. I think it is inappropriate to show off your belly, even if you are five years old or have a rockin’ killer model body. Bleh. Oh, and did you notice that I was sporting mom jeans? Double gross.
Turtlenecks are…okay, but then to go and pair them with overalls?! In fact, if you still own any overalls and you’re not a farmer, go ahead and burn them. Looking back at my photo album from high school, in about 85% of the pictures, I was wearing overalls. Boy, was I clueless.
I am the biggest advocate for color, but too much of a good thing is…too much. Also, someone should have warned me about mixing my patterns. Ha!
And don’t forget, no one looks good with a sunburn, so always remember to wear sunscreen. 🙂
Here’s what I wore this week:
Happy Friday!
The Girl With The Smile 
I like the red dress with the denim jacket……… BUT….. the best by far is #8 (cough, cough).
Loved this Rena! My only dispute is on sweats. I believe sweats can be worn anywhere. With a little make up and some cute earring, sweats can be real a fashion statement 🙂 my opinion, of course 🙂
It appears that most of your pics are from junior high/early high school. I think that most people do not feel proud or happy with what they wore at that time. I know that I cringe at some outfits that I wore then. It is a time of experimentation, figuring out who you are and learning to sift through trends to see what works for you and how to make them your own. Some missteps are bound to happen. I no longer own overalls, but I had several pairs in high school. I love the juxtaposition of the lean line revealing the feminine form with the loose masculine overalls. And I wore it with an open flannel shirt as a jacket! Ha! And BTW, after two kids, be happy you have a a pic showing your awesomely smooth and unabused belly! I only have my faded memory to keep me company.
You are so cute and stylish Rena. I need to high tail it over to plato’s closet!
You are a very brave woman, and I love your fashion sense! Thanks for the tip on Plato’s Closet. Looks like a great place for fantastic finds!
Rena – you “crack me up!” Who else would do a “What Not to Wear” on themselves! It doesn’t matter what decade . . . we all look back at pictures and think, “What was I thinking????” True with fashion and hair styles! I just love your style now!
Patty
Ha! I love you so much. 🙂 However, I do feel the need to point out that some of the things you’re bashing were truly in style when you were wearing them…like the overalls! That was SO trendy! You would not have felt in style if you did rock a pair of overalls from 1997-1999 AND, hawaiian prints had a moment around the same time. All that to say…I think you’re so dang pretty.
Ps. Start a new blog. About FASHION. You’ve clearly found an audience and you’re REAL entertaining at this. I think it could be a legit “thing”. 😉 But that’s just coming from me as a marketing/branding expert. 😉
I feel so lucky that I was able to present in most of those old photos! ha!
p.s. LOVE your new glasses. my question is- are we going to see any repeat outfits (different combos)? or do you really have that many clothing options?
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